I'm a pc expert in general, so I'm qualified to try to answer this. I'm working with real limited info here,so if the answer isn't what you thought or somethings missing, just reply to this question again. This time include the make/model of the pc,the operating system type(assuming windows), & the model of your lacie(there's about 1000 or so in 1gb). Here we go, assuming windows? is the os & that this is an external hdd connected via usb. These steps apply to all versions of windows, except nt,98 & 95. To get the system to "see" the drive, unplug the drive from the usb(this can be done with the pc on), wait a few seconds,plug the usb back in. A window should open indicating that windows is installing drivers for your device & another will pop up saying it's ready for use,hopefully. You don't have to use the software that comes with the drive,unless you want to use a security program or back-up software bundled with it. I prefer not use any bundled software as there are plenty of partition & security programs out for free at www.download.com that are easier & do the job better. Also, the tools built into windows vista & 7 are great for installing removeable media. Even xp isn't too bad, but 3rd party software is best for that os. Now that I rambled a bit there, right click "my computer" & click properties. Go to "device manager" & then expand the "disk drives", see if it shows as a logical disk. If not,no biggie, go down to "dvd/cdrom" & see if it showed in there,not likely but I've seen it happen. If you still don't see it,close the windows & re-right click "my computer", click manage. Go to "storage", click "removable storage", it should show up. If not, then in the same menu, go to "disk management", now it's gotta show up here,if not you may have a defective product. Hopefully, this isn't the case & windows does see this drive. If the drive shows up under the "disk management" as a logical drive, you need to click on the drive in the grey area under the white window that shows all the drives, then you need to right click the same drive & hit properties/advanced & make sure the drive is optimized for fast removal, not fixed storage. All that being done,we can now go to "my computer" & right click,hit explore. The drive should be visible. Right click on the drive,hit properties this will show any partitions that already exist & what file system they're formatted in. All you need in a partition with an NTFS partition to store your files in. This is where a 3rd party software will come in handy(Hint EASUS from download.com) or you may be able to download the original set-up software right from www.lacie.com . If your using the entire drive as one partition, skip 3rd party software. Simply right click the drive & hit format,select NTFS as the file system,then check the box for "quick format",all done. You can use the drive now. If nothing I typed worked, then if it's under warranty,send it back ,if not google for a program called "spin-rite" & follow the instructions for creating a boot disk to run before the os loads. This program will try to fix damaged areas of the disk & has saved quite a few drives. I'm not sure if it works on usb drives or not. If not,then power the pc down,get a screw driver, remove the drive from it's enclosure & pysically install it as a slave on the pc. Re-boot with your spin-rite disk in & run the program. Now if it comes up as a S.M.A.R.T. failure, the drive is done. At that point the drive has a bad controller card & you'll never find one. Let me know if that helps. Thanks for using Fixya!
I have a imac running v 10.4.1 hard drive is
Disk Description : SAMSUNG HD103UJ Media Total Capacity : 931.5 GB (1,000,204,886,016 Bytes)
Connection Bus : USB Write Status : Read/Write
Connection Type : External S.M.A.R.T. Status : Not Supported
USB Serial Number : 00E00103CE164 Partition Scheme : Apple Partition Map
sorry i didnt include this info in my original question.....
Mac I'm not great at personally,however my cousin who works with me part time in my business is a Mac wizard. The set-up is similar but not really, if that makes sense. He had a similar issue trying to format a new drive for a Mac laptop, where he was trying to save the guy's info from the old drive & clone it onto the new one,then install it back to the laptop. Well,that's where the similarity ended & the guy lost all his data & my cousin wound up doing a fresh install of the os. I would search the manufacture's site for any solutions. If you can't get anywhere, email Kevin [email protected] & he'll get back to you on this. Just tell him pete sent you in the mail. I'll mention this to him later today & I'll post back if I find anything else out.
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